Former DC Mike MacDonald swooping in to save the program??
Per Adam Schefter, MacDonald interviewed for the Chargers job today.
Could our one-year wonder who taught the program how to stop OSU play the hero one more time and take the Chargers gig off the table??
January 13th, 2024 at 10:22 PM ^
If John takes Minter so help me...
January 13th, 2024 at 10:23 PM ^
🎶It’s the circle of life …🎶
January 14th, 2024 at 9:15 AM ^
I look forward to learning what additional young defense genius in the Ravens orbit then shakes out to carry the mantle at M DC.
January 13th, 2024 at 11:00 PM ^
Whether it is Jim Harbaugh or Sherrone Moore as our coach next year, I am pretty sure they have witnessed enough with the MacDonald and Minter defenses that they will be looking for someone specific to that approach. We also will hopefully still have the other pieces of our defense here next year Clink, Elston, etc. if Jim Harbaugh stays though, I think we just need to be accustom to all of our assistant coaches getting poached each year. One thing I love about Harbaugh is that he constantly talks up his assistant coaches as future head coaches.
January 13th, 2024 at 11:38 PM ^
I haven't mentioned it because I was hoping everyone could wallow in the glorious feeling of the Championship for a while longer. But ...
Jim's personality is such that many people are not comfortable with his personality, style, etc. He will want people he knows will work well with him. He will want people who are expert in running his preferred style of offense and defense. We all know the only place he can find such people. This could be a disaster for the program.
January 14th, 2024 at 12:31 PM ^
FIFY. Jim's personality is such that many self-important pompous blowhards who were born on third base are not comfortable with his unassuming, unfiltered personality. He will want people who don't blow smoke and wheedle favors from power brokers. He will want people who know football and aren't afraid to play it. This is the future of the program.
January 14th, 2024 at 11:29 PM ^
I didn't say it would definitely happen. Nobody commented on this or disagreed with what I said. But 37 people (and counting) negged it. Apparently many people believe that no one should anticipate potential problems.
January 13th, 2024 at 11:17 PM ^
Minter wants to run it back
January 14th, 2024 at 11:13 AM ^
He had a blast with his dad !
January 14th, 2024 at 12:11 AM ^
Minter has earned it. Also, John is a bit part of the reason why he ended up at Michigan to begin with.
January 14th, 2024 at 11:24 AM ^
It's a given John reaches out to Minter if MM takes the Charger job - which would be a very apropos move by the cheapo Chargers!
They kept Staley around a year & a half after it was obvious he was in over his head to avoid paying a buyout!
Jim gon be pricey!
January 14th, 2024 at 11:41 AM ^
It’s only fair — to everyone. Someone is likely taking Minter. I’d be happier if John did it than anyone except Detroit.
January 14th, 2024 at 12:03 PM ^
John Harbaugh giveth, John Harbaugh taketh away.
It should be clear that any John Harbaugh-sourced guy is just on loan to us. Make the most of them while you have them (mission accomplished).
What is unfortunate is that if Jim Harbaugh leaves, that pipeline is going to dry up.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:24 PM ^
Pete Carroll seems like an option there too.
January 14th, 2024 at 12:01 AM ^
No…PC knows the Spanos family is the worst ownership in the NFL. Only thing appealing about that job is Southern California and Herbert.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:31 PM ^
As if they'd pick macDonald over Harbaugh.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:47 PM ^
I'll play devil's advocate.
Yes, Harbaugh has a proven track record. He also has a reputation for wearing on some people over time. At the college level, I don't think this means much. In the pros, maybe it does.
Even though the NFL does a lot of recycling of coaches, it seems like the trend is towards younger guys (with the hiring of Mayo, now 7 guys 40 and younger).
Lastly, Harbaugh is going to probably want a lot--money, yes which is not a big thing for the NFL, but more so control over personnel decisions, etc which is a big thing for owners and GMs to relinquish.
Edit: We obviously don't know what Harbaugh wants but who knows what a billionaire owner wants. Hell, Norv Turner kept getting head coaching jobs.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:55 PM ^
The Chargers owner has a rep for being cheap. They get mentioned for big names, but are interviewing Monken and MacDonald. They will cost them less than half as much as Harbaugh.
January 14th, 2024 at 1:13 AM ^
Yeah, Harbaugh's big problem is that pro players do not want him as coach. He has a reputation of treating the pro players like college kids.,
January 14th, 2024 at 2:24 AM ^
Where did you hear that nonsense? From a player 9 years ago the year after their Superbowl?
January 14th, 2024 at 4:25 AM ^
Probably from the smear campaign the Yorks ran after they fired him trying to justify their ridiculous decision.
January 14th, 2024 at 5:27 AM ^
Never heard this. Everything I've heard has been the opposite, actually. Just saw an interview two week ago with George Kittle (about the Rose Bowl), who said everything he'd heard about Harbaugh was positive from a players' perspective.
January 14th, 2024 at 6:28 AM ^
Unless the player played at OSU.
January 14th, 2024 at 10:22 AM ^
That’s a terrible take. You must have him confused with Saban and Urban, because Jim’s issue was with certain folks in management. Plenty of outspoken players about how good Jim was to them.
January 14th, 2024 at 10:09 AM ^
I believe you touched on a critical point that needs to be stressed. The latest trend is to hire a younger coach. We all love Jim, but he is 60... His track record is perfect (he turned EVERY program - Pro and college - into winner...
I could see the Ownership talking themselves into, hey we could get a Harbaugh lite at half the price... And they wouldn't be too far off...
January 14th, 2024 at 11:28 AM ^
There would be a slight difference in annual salary & total guaranteed $ between Jim Harbaugh and Mike Mcdonald!
That's why the Chargers might take MM over JH!
January 13th, 2024 at 10:32 PM ^
We just won a national championship and people need to chill. If Jim stays, great. If Jim goes, it’s fine.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:37 PM ^
Dude, that was, like, five days ago! We’ve got to move on and start unreasonably fretting about the future!
January 13th, 2024 at 11:10 PM ^
The Michigan Differnce!
January 13th, 2024 at 11:29 PM ^
Well, in defense of the Michigan fan base I'm not aware of any recent national championship team possibly losing their coach and their all world QB days after winning it.
I get what you're saying and you're absolutely correct but it really is hard to enjoy this when there's so much uncertainty...for me anyway.
January 14th, 2024 at 2:13 AM ^
Not me...I'm loving being a fan of Theee National Champions. Been a fan far too long to let anything take away from that feeling, especially something I have absolutely no control over.
January 14th, 2024 at 8:42 AM ^
Well, in defense of the Michigan fan base I'm not aware of any recent national championship team possibly losing their coach and their all world QB days after winning it.
The QB part of that is unreasonable. To be upset over a potential first-round pick leaving is akin to being upset over seniors graduating. It’s just a fact of life.
As for Harbaugh, that uncertainty has been there whether we’ve won the CFP or lost.
I get the sentiment—of course we’d prefer them to return. But essentially, what you’re saying is even winning the national championship doesn’t make up for uncertainty that is standard for this program (Harbaugh) and for college football (McCarthy).
January 14th, 2024 at 9:32 AM ^
In the last 10 years how many championship winning coaches looked like they could hack it in the NFL? Saban had already flamed out. Maybe we're all just biased here, but most of us would've expected the same from Meyer. Just maybe not to the degree he did. Ed Orgeron? No. Dabo? Highly doubtful. Kirby Smart? Maybe. He's the only other coach since Carroll that I would give any kind of chance at having some success at all.
January 14th, 2024 at 10:50 AM ^
Rumored that Matt Campbell turned the Lions down so they were stuck hiring Campbell the Lesser
Worked out great for two of those three parties
January 14th, 2024 at 12:07 PM ^
It wouldn’t be ideal but we are playing with house money now. Nothing left to prove.
January 14th, 2024 at 5:43 AM ^
Yes it’s fine but we all know that if Jim leaves the future of the program will be much less certain.
January 14th, 2024 at 8:43 AM ^
Most of us experienced the RR and Hoke transitions. A coaching change can be disastrous. There are very few people like Harbaugh who will figure out how to win wherever they are. …and he had some rough seasons at Michigan getting there.
January 14th, 2024 at 10:21 AM ^
Getting a little slanted in "rough" seasons? COVID was clearly the exception. Aside from that year, 6 out of 8 season with double digit wins? So two "rough" seasons? Certainly there were many bitter defeats over the past 8 season before this year, but that is what makes championships so great and so special. They are truly hard to come by...
A poor spot here... no championship
An untimely injury and a missed tackle there... no national championship
Here is a perfect Youtube for you. I do personally like it as it grounds me in all the bitterness it took to reach the mountain top, but the ending is glorious....
PS - FAIR WARNING.... The first 2 minutes is a ROUGH watch....
January 14th, 2024 at 4:07 PM ^
M_Born, much as we might like to think we have a more nuanced or sensible approach to fandom than the bucknuts, in the end we both aren't satisfied with a football season where we lose to the other.
So, yeah, there were some "rough" years getting to where they got in 2021. And this is coming from a person that has never once conceded Michigan "lost" to osu in 2016!
But after the osu games in '18 & '19, and what *appeared* to be the general program trajectory in '20, do you have a word you'd prefer to "rough"?
January 14th, 2024 at 12:07 PM ^
Jim accomplished what he came here for: to restore the program to championship level.
With a National Championship, he has accomplished everything that he came here for. Anything else we get out of him at this point is a bonus, and a blessing.
January 14th, 2024 at 12:40 PM ^
Seriously this. People pulling their hair out over possible departures we all expected is some OSU-levels of softness.
We're national champs, people. Enjoy it.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:32 PM ^
I'm definitely concerned about losing our assistant coaches before Harbaugh makes a decision. If we are losing him, I'd rather give the job to Moore & elevate everyone on the staff, make Minter an offer he can't get in the pros. If that's possible
January 13th, 2024 at 10:37 PM ^
We just won the national championship, anything is possible!!!
January 14th, 2024 at 12:04 AM ^
I'm not. At all. No chance any of them leave before Jim decides. And if they did it's because they knew he was gone.
January 14th, 2024 at 12:15 PM ^
If we were to lose Jim and many assistants, the right move would have been to go after Deboer before Bama did. I fear we were held hostage.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:43 PM ^
It's a great thought but if the Chargers have interest in Harbaugh I doubt he's anything but their top target.
January 13th, 2024 at 10:46 PM ^
And who do you think the new DC at Baltimore would be ?
January 13th, 2024 at 10:48 PM ^
If he doesn't also get hired as a head coach its likely to be Anthony Weaver. But the Chargers are going to go with an offensive minded coach.
January 14th, 2024 at 1:35 AM ^
Then we will just have to hire Baltimore's secondary or linebacker coach. We need to keep the same Raven's defensive scheme going.
January 14th, 2024 at 1:56 AM ^
Wink Martindale?